Editorial: Get to know South Jersey's new (elected) faces of 2014

Salem County Freeholder Lee Ware swears in newcomer Douglas Hogate onto the Elsinboro Township Committee while his wife, Pamela, holds the Bible during the reorganization meeting on Jan. 1, 2014 at the municipal building. (Staff Photo by Brittany M. Wehner)

It’s a brave new year.

Time for the annual reorganization of county and municipal governments — as well as many school boards — after the general election last fall.

Among the freeholder boards, Gloucester County returned to full Democratic control with the seats of two retiring Republicans filled by new Democrats. In Salem County, the re-election of two incumbents — one Democrat and one Republican, Freeholder Director Julie Acton — will keep the existing Republican majority at 4-3. In Cumberland County, the Democrats are keeping their freeholder majority at 5 to 2, with the Republicans holding onto two seats in a race that nevertheless brought new faces to the board.

In municipal governments, the year has hardly begun but the bickering has already started. West Deptford increases its Republican committee majority and keeps its heavy debt load. Already, the 4-1 panel has sacked the township administrator who was appointed when the Democrats were in charge. Franklin Township switched from recent Republican control to a Democratic majority, with the usual shift in appointed professionals.

In Elmer and Elsinboro, however — as in many Salem County towns — stability reigns.

And, residents of the First Legislative District will get a new assemblyman later this month, following the defeat of incumbent Democrat Nelson Albano by Republican Sam Fiocci.

With many of the local “reorg” meetings already having already taken place, it’s too late to attend. But you should know who your town council or committee members are, and who’s serving on school board. These are the people who set your property taxes, generally regarded as the most onerous in the country.

Talk to them. Write letters. Tell them what you want and consider every suggestion to reduce costs responsibly. And tell them that you do not want overbearing partisanship to impede progress.

In Cumberland County, a former Republican turned Democratic freeholder candidate Carlos Mercado offered a bit of advice to newly seated officials. Mercado, who lost his bid for re-election to an appointed seat, has seen politics from both sides. “I have a lot of friends here,” Mercado, now a Democrat, said at Republican headquarters after the November election. “This is about the community. It’s not about any one party or individual.”